Hague snubs Arctic Convoy Russian medal – Singing The Party Song

‘The decision not to give permission for the Ushakov medal to be accepted was made in accordance with the current British rules on the acceptance of foreign awards and only after very careful consideration of all the information provided by the Russian Embassy.
‘However, it was found that this information did not show that the intended recipients had given specific service to Russia within the last five years as required by those rules.’

He goes on to explain that the government would reconsider any cases where it could be shown that the intended recipients had given service to Russia more recently.

Why bother to speak if all you can spout is the party line. “The Rules Are The Rules”. We have heard that time and time again. What we need to hear, from you Mr. Hague, is that the government has seen sense, has relented in this stupidly rigid stance and has decided to let the survivors collect these medals.

Change the bloody rules Mr Hague.

The rules were set by faceless bureaucrats, by people who did not have to face the conditions that the medal recipients had to face. Lets apply some common sense.